Standing up to a challenging climate

Stella and her neighbors in Kenya struggled for years to farm in an increasingly unpredictable climate. Now, Stella’s family and her community are learning to increase their resilience and face these challenges head on.

Drissa’s land returns to life

Drissa Banihou, a farmer in Burkina Faso, West Africa, thought his land was dead. The 10 acres he had farmed since childhood had borne no crops in five years because of drought conditions. This year, his family produced 80 tons of sesame.

Agriculture and Rural Economies

Lutheran World Relief believes that investments in agriculture-centered rural development will provide the greatest impact for the people we serve.

Farming is the single largest source of income and jobs for rural families living in poverty around the world. And smallholder farmers supply the majority of the developing world’s food. With global demand for food on the rise, there is tremendous opportunity to sustainably accelerate the growth of rural economies and transform millions of lives.

We consider the entire rural economic system of each community we serve. From farmers to enterprises to the government, we identify assets and inequalities at every level, build the social capital necessary for inclusive and equitable market practices.

We support small-scale enterprises as the agents of change in market systems that can promote fairer, more inclusive terms for market access and operations that expand benefits to other marginalized groups.